The key U.S. indexes’ spectacular 2019 rally faltered in the New Year as the latest Middle East tensions triggered concerns of a war. It all started with a New Year Eve attack by Iran-backed militias on the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, which was retaliated by a U.S. drone strike near the Baghdad international airport that killed an Iranian military leader.

The U.S. move then faced a counter retaliation in the form of a missile strike by Iran at the American bases in Iraq on Jan 7. After this, the aftermath of the U.S. air strike was the passage of a resolution at the Iraqi parliament that demanded expulsion of all foreign troop’s present and Iran’s pulling back from the 2015 nuclear deal(read: Good Tidings Await Oil in 2020: 5 Soaring Energy ETFs).

Wall Street recorded losses, reacting to the news of Iran’s missile launch. SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY Quick QuoteSPY - Free Report) , SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF (DIA Quick QuoteDIA - Free Report) , Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ Quick QuoteQQQ - Free Report) and all-world ETF iShares MSCI ACWI ETF (ACWI Quick QuoteACWI - Free Report) lost about 1.6%, 1.4%, 1.7% and 1.2%, respectively, in after-hour trading on Jan 7. Volatility ETN iPath Series B S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX Quick QuoteVXX - Free Report) gained about 9.9% in the extended hours.

In any case, the United States and Iran have been at loggerheads for about one and a half years now. The United States had placed a set of sanctions against Iran to put an embargo on Iran’s missile and nuclear programs, and curtail its influence on the Middle East (read: US Tightens Sanctions on Iran: Country ETFs to Gain/Suffer).

No wonder, investors sought safety and increasingly placed their bets on long/short ETFs to find a way around the volatility. Below we highlight a few of these (see all Long-Short ETFs here).

Global X S&P 500 Covered Call ETF

The CBOE S&P 500 2% OTM BuyWrite Index measures the total return of a portfolio consisting of equity securities of the companies included on the S&P 500 Index and call options systematically written on those securities through a buy-write or covered call strategy. The fund charges 65 bps in fees.

WisdomTree Dynamic Long/Short U.S. Equity Fund 

The WisdomTree Dynamic Long/Short U.S. Equity Index includes long equity positions and short equity positions. It charges 48 bps in fees.

IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Tracker ETF (QAI Quick QuoteQAI - Free Report)

The underlying WisdomTree Dynamic Bearish U.S. Equity Index includes long equity positions The IQ Hedge Multi-Strategy Index seeks to replicate the risk-adjusted return characteristics of the collective hedge funds using various hedge fund investment styles, including long/short equity, global macro, market neutral, event-driven, fixed income arbitrage and emerging markets. It charges 80 bps in fees.

Hull Tactical US ETF (HTUS Quick QuoteHTUS - Free Report)

The Hull Tactical US ETF is an actively managed ETF which seeks to achieve long-term growth from investments in the U.S. equity and Treasury markets, independent of market direction. The fund charges 92 bps in fees.

IQ Hedge Long/Short Tracker ETF

The underlying IQ Hedge Long/Short Index seeks to replicate the collective hedge funds pursuing a long/short strategy. The fund charges 67 bps in fees.

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